The 3 Zones of Writing

The ideas of writing are strengthened when children have good imaginations.

Their imaginations are improved through rich life experiences and quality texts.

Many children get stuck on know-ing what to write but if we, as teachers, invest in drama, reading and experiences then children’s thoughts about what to write are enriched.

The FANTASTIC Rainbow

To accomplish skills in this Zone of Writing pupils need to use the cues in the FANTASTIC (FANTASTIC) rainbow.

FANTASTIC

Writers who include feelings are richer writers. Pupils need to know one of the important parts of being a writer is giving a reader an internal insight into a

character’s emotional state. Once pupils are able to reveal the inner emotions of a character, their writing becomes more empathic and engaging.

FANTASTIC

Dialogue enriches stories and quotes support and strengthen points in non-fiction. Clever choice of dialogue can move the action on and reveal more

about a character's motivations and inner thoughts. Children need training on choosing precise quotes for non-fiction that succinctly capture key ideas.

FANTASTIC

Writers who are able to build a picture from a character's perspective are more effective. A writer can build rich scenes, settings and details by choosing what

to describe and focus on.

Good writers take us on an internal journey to the inner thoughts of a character. Clever writers are able to declare inner thoughts but put dialogue

into their mouths that contradicts it. Writing is a mix of expressing the outward influences on a character as well as the internal thinking of the individual.

FANTASTIC

Writing is more engaging when it is a multi-sensory experience. The sense of touch is an important lens not to leave out. How things feel to the touch is

another way that writing can replicate real life experience. Children need a rich repertoire of texture words to enable them to explore this lens, e.g. smooth,

rough.

FANTASTIC

Children love to write action-packed stories and their main characters are often running and jumping through the plot. However, pupils need support to build smaller, more revealing action into their stories, as well as the white knuckle

cliff-hanger stuff.

FANTASTIC

This is a lens used less often by writers, however, when writers do use the sense of smell the impact of it is a three-dimensional experience. Smell can be

very evocative of positive and negative experiences in our lives – a waft of perfume or a whiff of a rotten sandwich. Often neglected but very powerful, a

smell dimension in writing can enhance it to a new level.

FANTASTIC

It is not always relevant to include a sense of taste. Of course, if there is food in the story then this is the writer's opportunity to describe tastes if they feel it

will bring a richness to the plot line. Some writers manipulate the sense of taste and attach it to feelings, e.g. "a taste of fear welled up in his throat."

Crash! Bang! Wallop! Sounds bring a story to life. As a writer we can choose to accentuate certain sounds. Sometimes creating pauses and long moments of silence are just as effective. Sometimes the smallest sounds can be magnified

in a story to create tension, e.g. the turn of a door handle.

So, the ideas of writing. There are nine... and how do you remember what they are?

Well, think about making your children fantastic writers. So let’s think about that acrostic, FANTASTIC, and we’re

going to look very closely at each one of those lenses and what they actually mean. This is a great support system

to help children with their ideas, and knowing there are nine, we can begin to teach writing like a system.

So let’s take the first one on the scale, ‘F’ – Feeling.

Okay, so this lens is all about emotions and feelings, and the internal workings of characters and people within

nonfiction. This is a really important part of writing. This is how, as writers, children begin to zoom into how

characters are actually experiencing the world.

Asking. Now this is not just about questions, this is about dialogue, and speech and all the chitter -chatter that

happens in stories. And, in non-fiction what it means is quotes, and experts like scientists giving their expert

opinions, and we see that in the inverted commas within nonfiction writing.

Noticing. This is the part where we’re zooming into the sense of sight. What can be seen long-distance, nearby...

what can we see as the reader? What does the writer reveal to us. Actually, can we see more than the reader

can see? Can the central character see what we can see? Do we know what’s happening already? Do we know

what’s around the corner that the central character doesn’t? This is about being very clear what we reveal to the

reader.

Touching. This is how we move through the world and touch things that are soft and rough and smooth, and

how we bring that to life through writing. How does the grass feel as we stroke it? How does the water feel on our

hands? This is about really lifting our writing off the page through the sense of touch.

And Action. Kids love action! They want their stories to be action-packed – they want to jump off the cliff, escape

out the window, run though the corridors. But we’ve got to help them with all types of action – small, slow,

deliberate action, the turning of the door. We’ve got to help them with the big moments of action, and they need

all of those words.

Smelling. Often forgotten, but Michael Morpurgo never forgets a smell. He’s always talking about the fusty,

homely smell of grandma’s carpet, or the waft of tomato soup. If you want to be a great writer, you mustn’t forget

about smell. In fact, smell is how we fall in love. It’s very important, and perfumery companies know about that.

We need to know about it in our writing as well.

And Tasting. This is an important lens that often gets forgotten. How important is taste! How important is taste

at the market place, or at the food festival when a character moves through a story and finds their favourite

porridge. Taste is a way we can really bring a story to life.

And the next lens, Imagining, is critical. This is the inner thoughts of a character. A very skilled writer gives us a

window to the inner thinking of a character, and helping children be really good at this moves them closer to

being more mature in their writing.

And finally Checking. Checking for sounds, and hearing, and that sense of bringing something to life through

sound. Are they urban sounds? Are they rural sounds? How important is that sound? Have you ever noticed, in

suspense writing, the smallest of sounds are magnified, like the turning of a key in a lock…

With all of these lenses, when children know there are nine this is very systematic.

This is what children don’t know, that we must now reveal to them.

There are nine, and there are only nine.

Let’s teach this explicitly.

KS1

KS2 Pupils can showcase their personal voice and writerly style through the techniques they use.

If children can conjure up images in a reader’s mind, their writing will have more of an impact.

Poetic and configurative language are excellent devices to help readers visualise what you are trying to create as a writer.

Onomatopoeia An onomatopoeic word is a word that phonetically imitates, resembles or suggests the source of the sound it describes. Common occurrences of onomatopoeic words include animal noises such as 'oink', 'miaow' (or 'meow'), 'roar', or 'chirp.' Some other very common English language examples include 'hiccup', 'zoom', 'bang', 'beep', 'moo', and 'splash.' Machines and their sounds are also often described with onomatopoeia, as in 'honk' or 'beep-beep' for the horn of a car, and 'vroom' or 'brum' for the engine. Children’s earliest picture books are filled with onomatopoeic words. Sometimes they take over a whole page, like the “splash” finale in The Wide Mouth Frog after the line: “You don’t see many of those around do you.” Children love to hear the sounds that things make in books – not only animal sounds but the 'whoosh' of the wind and the 'pfffft' of the flower pushing up through the ground. Children meet onomatopoeia from a young age in books like Mmm, Cookies! which is full of sounds bringing food to life. Sugar is sprinkled with a “chik, chik, chik, chik, chik.” and washed out of the character’s mouth with a “burble, burble, splat, splicht, bwahhh.” In The Perfect Nest by Catherine Friend there is a “CRACK!” and “Crackety- Snap!” and “Crackety-Crackety-Boom!” to describe the sounds of baby animals bursting out of their eggs. Sometimes the simplest of sounds evokes the reality of an event, such as the moment in Mary Quigley’s book Granddad’s Fishing Buddy when the “plop” of the fishing line going into the water quickly puts us in the scene. Teaching pupils to be on the lookout for this device in writing will in turn enhance their own writing, as it is a way to get no-ticed by the reader and is often associated with a change in font, capitalisation or an exclamation mark to draw attention to it. Onomatopoeia is a way to add a dimension to writing that is more sensory and can create interest by breaking up lengthy prose. Onomatopoeia - Examples “Crunch, crunch, crunch his feet sank into the snow” The Snowy Day by Ezra John Keats “Splash Splash! Splash Splash! Splash Splash!” We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen “And ere three shrill notes the pipe uttered, You heard as if an army muttered; And the muttering grew to a grumbling; And the grumbling grew to a mighty rumbling; And out of the houses the rats came tumbling.” The Pied Piper of Hamelin by Robert Browning

Alliteration Alliteration is a stylistic literary device identified by the repeated sound of the first consonant in a series of multiple words or the repetition of the same sounds, or the same kinds of sounds, at the beginning of words or in the stressed syllables of a phrase. This famous tongue twister exemplifies the same sound in the initial position in words and the way in which it heightens the intrigue of language once read aloud: “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, Where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?” Alliteration is an effective literary style to add drama and emphasis. It is useful to create mood. In Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll many of the words in the poem are made up, but the poet’s use of alliteration is so effective that a reader can still apply meaning, even without knowing the definition of the words. As a reader we can almost hear the terrible Jabberwock come stomping and snorting to meet his death with the repetition of harsh and jarring sounds such as, “gyre and gimble” “the claws that catch” “The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!”

Alliterative phrases also help to create rhythm and pupils are drawn to the rhythmic parts of language. Many picture books are drenched in rich onomatopoeic and alliterative language and reading these stories aloud will bolster and extend pupils’ vocabularies. Children meet these phrases in their favourite books such as Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne: “Here is Edward Bear, coming down the stairs now, bump, bump bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin.” Alliteration - Examples “Alice’s fat aunt ate apples and acorns around August” Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll “Great Aunt Nellie and Brent Bernard who watch with wild wonder at the wide window as the beautiful birds begin to bite into the bountiful birdseed.” Thank you for the Thistle by Dorie Thurston “And terrible teeth in his terrible jaws? He has knobble knees, and turned-out toes...” The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson

Rhyme “Where are you going to, little brown mouse? Come and have lunch in my underground house.” However, this is not the only way to lean on rhyme in story and non-fiction as it can also be embedded within sentences and paragraphs to enhance flow and interest. Good rhyme is fun to read out loud. Good rhyme is enjoyable to listen to and can make the piece lively or clever. Rhyme is unfashionable at the moment but, done well, is delicious. My favourite line of all time is a line that includes rhyme in a children’s picture book by Neil Gaiman, The Wolves in the Walls. This is both a simile and rhyme with “quick” and “flick”, making it great to read aloud: “Quick as the flick of the wing of a bat, Lucy slipped into the wall.” The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss has embedded both rhyme and repetition in its opening line for effect: “The sun did not shine, it was too wet to play, so we sat in the house all that cold, cold wet day. I sat there with Sally. We sat here we two and we said ‘How we wish we had something to do’.” The word “sat” is repeated three times to emphasise how bored and fed up the children are on this rainy day. Alongside this there is rhyme between “play” and “day” as well as “two” and “do”. Meanwhile Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans uses a rhyme dropped internally within the sentence to add intrigue and make it wonderful to read aloud: “In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines lived twelve little girls in two straight lines.” Rhyme - Examples "Quick as the flick of the wing of a bat, Lucy slipped into the wall." The Wolves in the Walls by Neil Gaiman “Yes to Herbert’s surprise from Miss Annabel’s eyes came the sudden appearance of tears.” The Ghost of Miss Annabel Spoon by Aaron Blabey “How we love to crash cans, Mash and smash and bash cans” Racoon Tune by Nancy E. Shaw

Repetition

Repetition is the simple repeating of a word or phrase within a sentence in order to secure emphasis. Notice how repeti-tion of the word “away” sharpens our empathy as the reader and makes the central character’s need to run away more poignant: “I’m going away from this place. Away from the angry teacher, away from the lonely playground and away from the staring eyes.” As pupils experiment with a wider range of writers' techniques, they use the power of repetition to strengthen the non-fiction and the emotion in a narrative. Books they will meet from an early age include Funnybones by Janet and Allan Ahlberg. This is a clever tale that builds up suspense using “dark” as an adjective twice before all nouns in the story. Children enjoy finding this pattern and replicating it in their own writing: “This is how the story begins. On a dark, dark hill, there was a dark, dark town.” Sometimes the repeated part does not have to be that significant to impress on a reader. Here in The Wolves of Willough-by Chase by Joan Aiken the reusing of the word “dusk” with the added “winter” as an adjective helps us visualise how cold and dark this dusk is: “It was dusk, winter-dusk.” Repetition is not just applied to moments of suspense or times when texts need to be slowed down, but also to create hu-mour and rhythm. A great example of this is in the opening of Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl. The text repeats “farms”, “men” and “nasty” and reveals one new bit of information as the opening builds. The humour is further reinforced by the silly alliterative names of the farmers. “Down in the valley there were three farms. The owners of these farms had done well. They were rich men. They were al-so nasty men. All three of them were about as nasty and mean as any men you could meet. Their names were Farmer Boggis, Farmer Bunce and Farmer Bean.” Repetition - Examples “It rapped. It grated. It snarled. It scarpered. It shrieked. It growled.” The Witches by Roald Dahl

Simile A simile directly compares two things through the explicit use of connecting words such as 'like', 'as', 'so' and 'than.' Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck has a memorable, highly evocative simile that compares a man to a dying fish. The use of alliteration strengthens the simile: “Curley was flopping like a fish on a line.” My Dog is as Smelly as Dirty Socks by Hanoch Piven is a fabulous book to use with Key Stage 1 pupils as a starting point when teaching similes. The girl in the book uses household objects to capture her family members. Her dad is represented by a collage picture and has string for a mouth because he is: “as stubborn as a knot in a rope.” Once pupils are shown how to identify similes they are able to find them quite easily in their writing. My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell is a good example of how the initial simile is further strengthened by the subsequent verb that personifies the wind: “July had been blown out like a candle by a biting wind that ushered in a leaden August sky.” Simile - Examples “Somewhere behind us, a train whistle blew, long and low like a sad, sad song” “The trees stood still as giant statues” “And when their voices faded away it was as quiet as a dream” Owl Moon by Jane Yolen “Amber lived on a mountain so high, it poked through the clouds like a needle stuck in down” Amber on the Mountain by Tony Johnston “She had small piggy eyes, a sunken mouth and one of those white flabby faces that looked exactly as though it had been boiled. She was like a great white, soggy overboiled cabbage” James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

Metaphor A metaphor’s function is to make an even stronger image in the reader’s head by describing a place, subject or object as something unlikely: “The teacher was a witch.” “A sea of chaos.” “Drowning in self pity.” Often two nouns are compared and contrasted to each other, with the verbs 'is', 'are', 'was' being dominant. “I am a storm.” “Her eyes are glistening jewels.” “The world is a stage.” (William Shakespeare) Metaphor – Examples “Mrs Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much time craning it over garden fences, spying on the neighbours.” Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling “He got so angry that his anger became a stormcloud exploding thunder and lightning and hailstones.” Angry Arthur by Hiawyn Oram “That night he was almost too happy to sleep and so much love stirred in his little sawdust heart that it almost burst. And into his boot-button eyes that had long ago lost their polish, there came a look of wisdom and beauty.” The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

Pathetic Fallacy The phrase pathetic fallacy is a literary term for the attributing of human emotion and conduct to all aspects within nature. It is a kind of personification that is found in narrative writing when, for example, 'clouds seem sullen', 'trees tremble', or 'when rocks seem indifferent'. It gives human emotions to inanimate objects of nature – for example, referring to weather features reflecting a mood. This device is used to strengthen a match between a central character’s emotion and a link between the weather, or something in nature or the physical environment, that correlates to amplify this feeling. Pathetic fallacy is fascinating because it offers human beings a different way to begin to understand and comprehend the natural world. By projecting human thought and behaviour onto elements of our environment, we make understanding it more accessible; we are comparing it to something we already know and understand. The film of Holes (2003), based on the children’s novel (published in 1998) by American writer Louis Sachar, also pro-vides a good live action example of pathetic fallacy. The part of the film (based on Chapter 29) that begins “there was a change in the weather. For the worse” shows the tension at Camp Green Lake slowly building as the weather becomes hotter and hotter. It’s not until the tension is broken that the rain comes. Pathetic fallacy can really set the atmosphere of a scene and help to bring out themes and motivations. In particular, effective pathetic fallacy can draw you into the central character’s dilemma. The Borribles by Michael de Larrabeiti is a good example of nature mirroring the mood of the story: “The swirling rain-clouds rushed on revealing the bright moon, and the two Borribles dodged behind the bushes and kept as quiet as they could.” Equally Judith Kerr’s When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit shows how the “sad, greying heaps” come to represent the main character’s existence during the war: “Anna was walking home from school with Elsbeth, a girl in her class. A lot of snow had fallen in Berlin that winter. It did not melt, so the street cleaners had swept it to the edge of the pavement, and there it had lain for weeks in sad, greying heaps.” Pathetic Fallacy - Example “Nobody noticed that she was missing. They were all too busy thinking of the journey ahead. As the geese disappeared into the grey sky, tears trickled down Borka’s beak.” Borka by John Burningham

Pun Pun relies on the double function of language. 'Sweet' and 'hard' can refer to the physical properties of things but also to the psychological properties of people. Puns are an extremely high order skill and require a mastery of language and a clear understanding of the functionality of homophones. A sentence can be weighted in meaning with a deliberate use of a pun. Consider this sentence that provides information: “The boy wore a blue jumper, he was sad.” If the same essence of meaning is captured but a pun is used, playing on the duality of meaning of the word ‘blue’, refer-encing both colour and state of mind: “The boy wore a blue jumper just like his mood.” Suddenly, the sentence gains more presence and showcases the writer’s skill. Pun - Examples “How do you know when Santa is in the room? You can feel his presents” 100 Best Jokes for Kids “Not I, believe me. You have dancing shoes with nimble soles: I have a soul of lead so stakes me to the ground I cannot move” Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare “Dear Deer, I now live at the Zoo. Wait until you hear what goes on over here. Love Aunt Ant” Dear Deer by Gene Barretta

Personification Personification is a type of figurative language that creates desired effects in writing. Specifically, personification is when you give an object human characteristics (emotions, sensations, speech, physical movements): “The cruel waves screamed and swallowed the boat.” Here, the writer describes the waves using the human attributes, “cruel” and “screamed”. The waves are also given a hu-man physical process, swallowing, when waves cannot literally swallow something. Personification – Examples “In the space of thirty seconds, the atmosphere in the tiny room had changed completely and now it was vibrating with awkwardness and secrets.” Matilda by Roald Dahl “Adrift on eight pond pillows, pink cheeked blossoms rest” One Leaf Rides the Wind by Celeste Mannis “... trees are scratching at the sky” Who Took my Hairy Toe? by Shutta Crum

Symbolism “It is that ability to summarize and encapsulate that makes symbolism so interesting, useful, and – when used well – ar-resting. You could argue that it’s really just another kind of figurative language. Symbolism exists to adorn and enrich, not to create a sense of artificial profundity. It can serve as a focusing device for both you and the reader, helping to create a more unified and pleasing work.” Stephen King, 2000. Symbolism is based on taking one idea and extending it across a whole piece of writing. For example, if a pupil was writ-ing a persuasive holiday brochure to promote and sell Mauritius and a reference was made to it being “the jewel of the Indian ocean”, a metaphor will have been established linking the island to precious stones and jewellery. This could then be a starting point for an ongoing symbol to be established. If a mind map of ideas was to be generated around the central idea of jewellery the following extended ideas might emerge: Once these associated connections are established then Mauritius can be sold by making continual references to jewel-lery. “a necklace of cliffs surround the emerald green ocean...” “the dazzling sands are like a precious lost treasure yet to be discovered...” “marvel at the nightlife that glints with the promise of a pleasurable escape...” Symbolism - Examples An extended metaphor that is continually referenced through a text to provide a textual glue through a themed idea. • Water • Fire • Sky • Forest • Weapons • Storm • Prison • Dance • Jewellery • Beach • Carnival • Space

Symbolism

Children need to be in control of their grammar choices to improve the precision and the impact of their writing.

Technical control of grammar means that pupils can show readers that they have good understanding of the English language and that they are able to manipulate it for their own desired outcomes.

The Grammar Rainbow

To accomplish skills in this Zone of Writing pupils need to use the cues in the GRAMMAR (ABCD) and STRUCTURE & STYLE (PPPPP) rainbows.

Adverbs and Adverbial Phrases Grammar Toolkit - A

Basics Grammar Toolkit - B

Complex Sentences Grammar Toolkit - C

Dialogue & Contracted Forms Grammar Toolkit - D

Grammar Toolkit - Purpose Having a clear focus on the purpose and function of your writing enables choices to be made that ensure meaning matches genre.

Ultimately, the core purpose of most writing is to be interesting and create desired effects.

Grammar Toolkit - Paragraphs Teaching children how to group ideas together for similarity is the first step for shaping paragraphs. Whether through narrative or

non-fiction, children can block information for theme and content. New paragraphs should be created for new time, event, place or

person.

Grammar Toolkit - Voice (Passive or Active) Active Voice

The noun or noun phrase of a sentence is normally the object of an active sentence, e.g. Our teachers won the race.

Passive Voice

The noun or noun phrase of a sentence appears as the subject of the sentence, e.g. The race was won. Equally, this would also be

classed as a passive voice sentence, e.g. The race was won by our teachers.

Grammar Toolkit - Tense (Past or Present) Tense is tricky for children to understand and is interconnected with standard English. For actions that have happened in the past

there are certain verbs and constructions that will be used, e.g. has taken, took. For actions happening now in the present tense,

constructions such as ‘took’ are used or verb forms ending in _ed.

Grammar Toolkit - Punctuation Year 1: Separation of words with spaces. Introduction to capital letters, full stops, question marks and exclamation marks to

demarcate sentences. Capital letters for names and for the personal pronoun ‘I’.

Year 2: Use of capital letters, full stops, question marks and exclamation marks to demarcate sentences. Commas to separate items

in a list. Apostrophes to mark where letters are missing in spelling and to mark singular possession in nouns [for example, the girl’s

name].

Year 3: Introduction to inverted commas to punctuate direct speech.

Year 4: Use of inverted commas and other punctuation to indicate direct speech (for example, a comma after the reporting clause;

end punctuation within inverted commas: The conductor shouted, "Sit down!"), apostrophes to mark plural possession (e.g. the

girl’s name, the girls’ names) and use of commas after fronted adverbials.

Year 5: Brackets, dashes or commas to indicate parenthesis. Use of commas to clarify meaning or avoid ambiguity.

Year 6: Use of the semi-colon, colon and dash to mark the boundary between independent clauses, e.g. It’s raining; I’m fed up. Use

of the colon to introduce a list and use of semi-colons within lists. Punctuation of bullet points to list information. How hyphens can

be used to avoid ambiguity, e.g. man eating shark versus man-eating shark, or recover versus re-cover.

Useful Resources